Special elections are likely to be held to make fire dues mandatoryBy Scarlet SimsReporter

The Pope County Quorum Court decided during its Thursday meeting to allow volunteer fire departments to hold special elections to see if the public will allow them to have fire dues collected by the county.

"I think you're doing a great job," Justice of the Peace Nell Warren said. "I'm just all for the volunteer fire department."

The ordinance, sponsored by the Pope County Firefighters Association, allows volunteer departments to prepare ballots that will be approved by the court before going to the people in either a special election or the next general election.

The departments hope to levy dues on each residence or real estate property and have the county collect the money when taxes are due, according to Glen Martin, Atkins Fire Department assistant fire chief and spokesperson for the ordinance.

Currently, paying fire dues is not mandatory, but it would be if the measure is approved by voters.

Martin said some of the fire departments were receiving less than a 50-percent response to bills sent out by the departments.

Some fire departments charge a service fee for responding to a home or property that did not pay fire dues, Martin said.

Three special public hearings will be called at each fire department that opts to hold an election to to inform the public about the ballot.

The amount of the fire dues would be determined by individual volunteer fire departments, Martin said. It could be either a flat rate or a percent. The fees will be determined before each election is held.

Once set, another election would have to be held to raise the fee.

Although the departments can have either a special election or the general election, Martin said special elections were probably the best choice because fire districts did not always coincide with political districts.

He said the volunteer fire departments would cover all costs associated with the elections.

The court voted to suspend the rules over the objections of justices Larry Pettus, Phil Bourne and Edwin Shinn; and voted to perform all three readings.

"I think we're pushing it too fast," Bourne said, noting he wanted to talk to his constituents. "Surely we're not in that big of a hurry."

Pettus said he was against allowing special elections, because they were notorious for bad turnouts.

"Look at the percentage of voters that vote in a special election," Pettus said. "That's why I'm not in favor of special elections."

The court passed the ordinance 11-2, with Shinn and Pettus voting against the ordinance.

In other business

The court passed all ordinances from the budget committee, including $5,659 for lost checks for the ambulance service and $50,000 in grant funds for Industrial Power, Inc.